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Saturday, May 29, 2004

God I hate this kind of thing. We need art to remind us that we are not all animals, to remind us that we can raise above the pettiness that drive our base emotions. So an artist becomes angry when he sees American solders torturing prisoners of war, is it wrong to respond to the anger through art? Hell no! It is wrong to respond to the art through anger.

My nine-year-old son sits beside me as I wrote this. His advice is simple; if you don't like the art, just walk away.

I hope Lori Haigh keeps her gallery open. I hope other people fill it with art that helps us all deal with the dishonor our actions abroad have caused us here at home. Art helps heal. We need to heal.

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

I have always found the best way to win the hearts and minds of a people are to destroy its holiest shrines. Good going guys! What would the equivalent be here in the states, the Mormon Temple in Utah?

Read about why it is an important shrine here.
Or see pictures of it here.

It is amazing that it took until the year 2004 to legalize gay marriage. It seems so fundamental to America’s core value of equal protection under the law. Two people sharing a life together, even raising kids together, should be allowed access to the same rights and protections as heto marriages. If one removes religion from the debate, gay marriage simply becomes a civil contract that affords the same basic rights to every married couple. It seems only fair.

Congratulations to Michael Moore on winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Apparently, Fahrenheit 9/11knocked the celebrity Jury dead. According to Time Magazine, “The film details, in Moore's usual mix of flippant comedy and moral outrage, the case for the prosecution in the Bush Administration's invasion and occupation of Iraq, its Patriot Act clamp on civil liberties and its cozy relationship with the ruling families of Saudi Arabia, including the bin Ladens”. It looks like the movie will show in America starting as early as the July 4th weekend. I cannot wait.

Of course some people really don’t like Michael Moore. This site is blatantly anti-Moore and a hoot to boot.

Read about it here:It's always nice to know the terrorists we seek are using our own communication tools against us. There must be a way the government or maybe some academic can monitor and report on this kind of activity.

Friday, May 21, 2004

This one is great. An eBay powerseller is auctioning off a kinship report that will tell you if you and your loved ones are related to Jesus. Starting price for the rights to the information $49K. (no bidders yet)

I checked eBay and found the auction. Accourding to the posted info "Many millions of people will be pleasantly surprised to find out that they and their families do. Who wants to deliver the good news and let them know?" - Is it good news to be related to Jesus? I mean, can you really be? I thought he was supposed to be divine. Can one be related to God?

The hook to the sale is that the buyer can sell the rights to the kinship report to upcoming mega event like the movie release of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The info goes on to list the family names of people who are supposedly related to Jesus. (Alas, my name is not on the list.) It also lists "Hollywood stars like Katherine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Johnny Carson, Bette Davis, Walt Disney, Michael Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Julia Child, Catherine Oxenberg, and Brooke Shields" Brooke Shields? oh come on.

Who would buy this crap-o-la? I think I'll put this one on my watch list just in case.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Jeremy Sivits goes to jail for a year after pleading guilty. Sivits sentence is one year in prison and a bad conduct discharge from the Army. Is this justice? No, not really, we see Sivits going to jail for what the government calls just punishment, yet this is clearly an insignificant punishment given his crimes and the disgrace he has caused our country. That is unless we see Sivits serving time in Abu Ghraib prison. We know his name will forever be associated with his dishonorable actions, why should we be happy with a bad conduct discharge? Why not a dishonorable discharge - his conduct clearly dishonored America, tarnished our image abroad, and made our professional servicemen and woman look like amateurs, or worse, the very “evil doers” were are trying to defeat in this war against terror.

Why not give Sivits a dishonorable discharge? – Is it because he will testify against his fellow servicemen and woman in a typical criminal copout/rollover manuver. Could we not consider this act dishonorable?

Oops - Chalabi a spy? According to Fox News, it might be possible. It Looks like Bush and the CIA made another small miscalculation in their Iraq dominance policy. I wonder who will get the blame? I know the media will be looking for blood because the media has spent so much time and energy building up Chalabi as the next possible savior of Iraq.

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Michael Moore has never been thought of as a man without a bias. Heck we all know he has a bias, and even with his known bias, he is as funny as hell. Moore produces some of the best-written documentary material available today. I actually feel sorry for the Bush/republicans this summer. More is going to hoist the Bush family on a very big petard! It's going to be very uncomfortable summer for some. I don't know about you dear reader (if I have any!), but I’m looking forward to it! (right in time for the elections too!)

I wonder who funded this movie? It would be great if it was through a government grant, but that would be too much to hope for right? I know disney refused to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11. I'm sure Disney was afraid of government rrepriasals, or maybe disney wants to open an Arabic based theme park. hmmm.

Of course, I have my problem with Moore’s work, he really does take too much pleasure at making others look transparent and stupid, He also plays loose with the facts. It can be painful, it can be fun, but it can also be overwhelming. Bowling for Columbine was fun to watch for about the first 30 minutes, then I wanted to run and hide.

I met Michael Moore once. We rode an elevator together in 97 or 98 at the airport Hilton in Dallas. He was gracious and kind. Very much unlike several other celebrities I’ve run into over the years. I wonder if that chance meeting has influenced my opinion of him. Hmmmm, let me see…no. He is a very funny man with a razor sharp mind; I hope I never end up in his cross hairs.

At last, a voice of reason rises in Iraq, but what is his motive? Lay down your arms, stop the killing and give peace a chance, all this from the voice of the Muslim leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Iraq. It is refreshing to see a call for peace after all the bloodshed. But one must ask, why now? The article says Sistani made the call after Sadr's loyalists fired open Sistani's office. So Sistani speaks for peace after an attempt on his own life? The call for peace smells like a self-serving call to disarm a rival. If his sentiments were true, he would have made the call weeks or months ago. Is this just another attempt at grabbing power in Iraq? Well duh….

And Sadr? Does anybody really belief he is anything other than a power mad outsider tying to usurp power by armed revolt? We play at containing his militia while his power grows. We give him time to call for more help, kill more Americans, and escalate an already deadly situation. His forces hide behind civilians and kill indiscriminately. He uses a Mosque to protect himself. How loudly does one need to say COWARD before the world sees him for what he is? It is time to take the gloves off before more of our boys come home in a bag.

I wonder how the world views this? I bet the French do/say something stupid or inapropriate. Any takers?

Monday, May 17, 2004

It keeps getting better and better. Here we have further facts supporting the Bush administrations efforts to subvert the Geneva Conventions and tarnish the image of the United States domestically and abroad. What is it with these people? They “our so called born again Christian Leaders”, are continually saying one thing and doing another. These actions are decidedly un-Christian and un-American. How do you value life, yet subject a fellow human to degrading sexual torture. How do you continuously talk about virtue, yet lie on such a scale that it boggles the mind?

Did we need to go to war with Iraq? NO.

Do we need to stay in Iraq? YES – we screwed it up, we need to participate in fixing the problem we created. Although we should own up to our mistake and invite others in to manage the transition to democracy.

Was Iraq responsible for the terror of 911? NO.

Will Iraq or it's citizens be responsible for future acts of terror against America and other? YES – we are creating terrorists by our actions – torturing men and women – killing – running the country like a business. It sickens me.

We have clear evidence of yet another break in the counties character – America tortures people – Great, what next? I’m willing to bet we see war crimes prosecutions come from this. It would be fitting to see those who perpetrated this crime brought to justice before the World Court. But wait – we don’t send Americans before the World Court! Somehow, our actions are thought to be exempt from oversight. We can be so arrogant.

Saturday, May 15, 2004

We pay this man to teach our children. He is calling for violence in America to further the cause of what? Calling for an intifada We pay his salary right? He should be fired and left to spread his poison to another audience. I know Berkeley is supposed to be the place for free speech – but really, start a war here? Even if you call it an intifada, it’s still just plain wrong. Hatem Bazian, you should be ashamed of yourself.

It seems the best webmaster can make a mistake. This page shows the Spurs ahead of the Lakers 3-2, yet we all know Derek Fisher nailed the shot that put the Lakers ahead with .4 seconds left. The Spurs will lose tonight, you can bet on it!

Friday, May 14, 2004

My son Jon graduates from UC Berkeley this May. I cannot describe how proud I am. It fills me with a father’s sense of pride and loss. Another milestone in my son’s life to be proud of, and another step away from the Nintendo playing child of only a few short years ago. Time flies.

Ted Koppel spoke at the 2004 Commencement ceremony, he used his appearance to clarify his position on the War in Iraq. Dispite his comments to the contrary, he is much shorter in person. His speech was wonderful, as a Stanford Grad, he pushed the interschool rivalry buttons, as a supporter of the War in Iraq, he pushed the Berkeley hippy buttons, and in portraying it like it is realist, he pushed the “you are not as smart as you think you are button.” His approach worked, by the end of his speech, the students were ready to conquer the world. I’m going to have to hunt down the text of the speech, it was truly memorable (although I’ve forgotten it already).

Monday, May 10, 2004

Driving in LA blows. One must estimate any distance between two points in terms of time, not miles. Today was no exception. Home to Torrance 18 miles, or one hour if before 6:30 a.m., 1.5 hours if after 6:30 a.m., and god knows how long if after 7:15. Of course when you need to be in Torrance by 7:00, leave an hour early, the tip takes 20 minutes. Tomorrow it will take two hours. Driving in LA Blows.